Rose Needs a Doctor
by Books In the Blood
Summary: When Rose suddenly falls ill when traveling with the doctor he takes her back home to London. With her mother away, will the doctor stay and take care of Rose? Just a nice fluffy, sick!fic
1. Chapter 1

"You'll love it Rose! Really it's fantastic! Fields of rainbow colored flowers, a green sparkling sky, and fruit on the trees as big as your head! It's beautiful! I've wanted to take you there for a while!" The doctor spoke quickly and enthusiastically as he worked the dials on the TARDIS.

Normally Rose would be excited at the prospect at seeing a new planet; it did sound pretty lovely actually. But the TARDIS seemed to be moving very quickly and bumpy all of sudden. Her stomach was churning and making dangerous noises; she hoped that it was nothing to worry about. She suddenly regretted the extra order of chips that she'd had for lunch.

"We can have a picnic!" The doctor said with excitement, smiling his big goofy grin. He danced around the console of the TARDIS "What would you like for a picnic? We can eat right on the flowers, it will be great!"

Rose held onto the console with one hand, the other hand on her stomach. The noises in her belly were getting louder and she felt her face pale. Definitely shouldn't have had the chips… "I'm not really very hungry" Rose said softly. The doctor was completely oblivious to her pain.

"Okay…well, no picnic then. But there's so many other fun things to do. They have wonderful beaches there! We can go swimming….the waves are almost constant, you can just float along…"

_Up and down, up and down…._ Rose felt herself begin to gag and she swallowed hard; she was _not _going to get sick. She refused. "Can you slow this thing down a little?" Rose asked shakily as she used both hands to hold on to the TARDIS. If only it wasn't going so fast and spinning so much, she would be able to hold down her lunch.

The doctor just laughed, still blind to her sudden illness. "Rose….you know the TARDIS doesn't have a speed. It only has one….Go!" he said, laughing at his own joke.

Rose felt dizzy, sweat beginning to dot her forehead. The rumbling in her stomach had now created its own constant symphony of noise. Her mouth was beginning to feel strange as she reached the unavoidable vomit point of no return. Her stomach rolled up as her lunch was determined to make another appearance.

"We're almost there Rose" the doctor said excitedly as he began to land the TARDIS. "When we get there we can…..hey! Where are you going?"

But Rose couldn't answer as she clamped a hand over her mouth and ran for the bathroom, hoping the TARDIS hadn't moved it recently so she could find it with ease.

…

Rose leaned against the cold toilet seat, gasping for air and hoping that her stomach was finally empty; it didn't feel any better. She had vomited more than she even thought was humanly possible but she didn't trust it yet. After a few vomit free minuets, she finally decided she could trust her stomach enough to move away from clasping the toilet. She flushed the toilet and then lay down on the floor of the bathroom, hugging her abdomen tightly. A shiver went through her and she suddenly wanting nothing more than to be in her bed at home, wrapped in blankets and her own pyjamas with her mum fussing over her. It was a stupid thing to want; she was 19 years old. But still….being sick always had a way of making you feel younger than you actually were. She had wanted to deny that she was sick but she didn't think she could blame it entirely on the chips.

Rose had been lying on the floor of the bathroom for a few minutes, her stomach churning and the noises making their way to the lower region of her belly (great, like she really needed _that _too) when she heard a knock on the bathroom door. _Knock, knock, knock….._it was so loud as her head pounded.

"Rose?" the doctor's voice came hesitantly through the door. "Rose? Are you okay? You….uh….rushed off rather quickly."

"Feeling…..a bit off….."Rose muttered, holding her stomach.

"Are you sick?" the doctor asked a bit uneasily.

"Yeah…..I suppose" Rose said tiredly. She didn't really want to admit it; that made it final. But she did want him to take her home.

"Can I…come in? Are you….decent?" he asked.

Rose muttered incoherently; she just wanted to sleep. She wasn't sure if she was going to explode or pass out first. The door finally opened slowly after a minuet and the doctor poked his head in. "Rose…..are you okay?" he asked as he looked down at her in alarm.

"You're the doctor….you tell me" Rose said sarcastically. He stomach rolled painfully and she feared that she was going to have to send him out. The doctor crouched down beside Rose. "I'm guessing no picnic today then?" he asked jokingly. When he saw Rose wasn't laughing his face fell. "Okay then….what can I do for you?" he asked.

If she didn't feel so terrible then she would have laughed at the fact that the doctor was so clueless about illness. "Take me home?" Rose asked.

"Home it is" The doctor said, giving her a brief smile. To Rose's surprise, the doctor put his arms under her and lifted her into the air, carrying her out of the bathroom and down the hallway. She was surprised but she wasn't complaining; she laid her hot head against the coolness of his leather jacket, feeling dizzy. He pushed an unfamiliar door open and walked into a bedroom; presumably his bedroom. He laid her down on the bed gently and said, "Okay….London it is….right away. I'll try to see if she'll go a little easier on you this go around. You just relax" he said with a smile before dashing out the door of the bedroom. Rose lay back on the pillow; it smelled very familiar. Very much like the doctor….and she was asleep before they even landed again.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose was awoken a few minutes later, the doctor gently shaking her awake. "Rose, wake up….we're in London"

She knew he was shaking her gently but the simple action was enough to cause her already unsettled stomach to rebel. She sat up, her head dizzy and her stomach cramping. "Good" she said quietly. She reluctantly stood up, pushing herself away from the doctor's comfortable bed. She was instantly filled with a loss of equilibrium and stumbled slightly; the next minuet she felt the doctor's strong arm around her. "You going to make it? Do I need to carry you?" he asked, giving her a slightly alarmed expression.

The idea was very tempting but she wasn't going to force him to carry her the entire way. "No…..I can walk of course" she said dismissively. The doctor kept his arm around her as they slowly made their way out of the TARDIS. Rose was glad to see that it had landed almost exactly next to the building that her and mum's flat was in so she wouldn't have to do much walking. It was winter at home, she instantly remembered as the chilly wind smacked her in the face. She and the doctor made slow progress towards the building. "This all really came on fast didn't it?" the doctor remarked at Rose's declining health.

"Yeah….must have eaten something that didn't agree with me for lunch" Rose said, taking deep breaths to stave off the nausea.

"Bit unlucky…..we ate the same thing and I feel fine" the doctor said with a small grin. Rose wanted to punch him.

"Maybe it only affects us one-hearted people" she said sarcastically, just causing the doctor's smile to grow.

Rose was momentarily relived when they walked into the building, glad to be away from the cold winter air. But she found as she and the doctor began to climb the stairs, her stomach cramps went from painful to desperate; by the time they reached her floor he wasn't entirely sure she was going to make it. Stuck walking slowly because of the dizziness but desperate to get to the bathroom, she was glad when she could see the door of her flat in view. She dug her keys out of her pocket and opened the door with shaky fingers. As soon as she opened the door she broke free from the doctor and hobbled as quickly as she could towards the bathroom, leaving the doctor stuck in the sitting room where her mum would no doubt descend upon him. She felt slightly bad about that but not bad enough to stop her frantic race to the bathroom.

After spending an ungodly amount of time in the bathroom, Rose emerged feeling like she had left part of her soul in there. She walked slowly into the sitting room, finding the doctor sitting on the couch by himself, the rest of the flat quiet. "Where's mum?" Rose asked, putting her arms around her as she felt a chill go through her. She would have surely heard them come in and come to say hello while she was in the bathroom.

The doctor shrugged. "Must be out….she'd definitely not here or she would have _welcomed _me properly" he said with a small smile, knowing what kind of 'welcome' Jackie would have given him had she been here.

"Oh….she's not here" Rose said defeated. It suddenly seemed like the end of the world as things often did when you were ill. She knew it was ridiculous since she was grown up but she wanted her mum to be here to take care of her. Rose knew that it was unfair; she couldn't expect her to be here every single time she deiced to show up, especially since it had been awhile since she had visited.

The doctor seemed to notice the fall in her expression. "Did you need her for something?" he asked.

"No…." Rose said, cringing as her stomach rolled uncomfortably again. "I just kind of….wanted her to be here"

"Oh" The doctor said, obviously at a loss for words. He sat for an uncomfortable minuet before he said, "Maybe you should go lie down? Turn in early? You must be tired."

"Yeah, yeah I am" Rose said. She started to make her way towards her bedroom, a second later turning around. She might regret asking, but she was going to anyway. "The thing is…..I don't really want to be alone. I feel really bad…..could you….maybe stay….until mum gets home?" she asked with uncertainty. She knew how the doctor felt about "domestics" and Rose definitely thought this qualified as domestics. If he said no, she could certainly take care of herself, but she hoped that he might say yes.

She saw hesitation cross his face before he said, "Uh…..yeah I suppose I could stay for a little while." He said. He got off the couch and walked over to Rose. He gave her an encouraging smile before putting his arm around her. Rose found herself quickly leaning on him heavily. She began to walk as the doctor started to walk towards her bedroom. "Come on, let's get you in bed" the doctor said cheerily as he helped her towards the room. "Just don't let Jackie kill me if she comes home and finds me in your room"

Rose laughed despite her pain. "I promise I won't let that happen" she said.


	3. Chapter 3

Rose was glad when they finally made it to her bedroom; the small trip, combined with the recent bathroom disaster had made her tired. She sat down on the bed, feeling slightly dizzy. "You, uh….need me to do something?" the doctor asked uncertainly. It was obvious he had no idea what she wanted or expected him to do. It was actually kind of cute, how oblivious he was. He could be so genius about most things but sometimes he was lost.

"No….really I just want some company" Rose said. She stood again slowly and walked over to her dresser pulling out some flannel pyjama pants and a long sleeve shirt. "I'm just gonna go change" Rose said before walking into the bathroom, luckily right about the time that her stomach decided to lurch again. She didn't have much left in her stomach to come up; the bile burned her throat. She hoped that that was the last of it; she didn't want to keep having to run to the bathroom. She really just wanted to lie down.

Rose came out of the bathroom and threw her clothes on the floor, walking over slowly to her bed where the doctor was sprawled out. For once she noticed he'd taken his shoes and jacket off and appeared pretty comfortable. She sat down on the bed beside him, lying down: _boy does my bed feel good…._

"What's this?" the doctor asked beside her pleasantly. Rose looked over at him; her face instantly turned red when she saw him holding up a fuzzy, yellow blanket. Or rather what was left of one; it had been her baby blanket at one point but it had seen better days. Most of it had frazzled off at one point and it was more dingy grey than yellow anymore. She snatched it out of his hand in embarrassment. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

"It was sticking out from under this pillow" the doctor said, patting the pillow he was leaning against. "It's your blankie, I guess"

If possible, Rose turned an even darker shade of red. She shoved the blanket under her, out of sight. "I'm a grown woman, I don't have a blankie" she said, mortified.

The doctor just smiled. "Whatever you say" he said in a knowing way. If Rose didn't feel so horrible, she might have had to punch him. She pulled the covers up to her chin as a chill went over her whole body. "You think you can get me some water…..and some pain medicine? Should be in the bathroom cabinet" Rose asked.

"Sure thing" the doctor said, getting up "Be back in a flash"

Rose rolled over onto her side and watched him disappear out the door. Her hand found the blankie under the pillow and held it in her fingers, trying to soak up as much warmth as she could from the bed and blankets before she saw the doctor walk back into the room. He sat beside her and she scooted so that she was sitting up; he handed her the medicine and a glass of water. She took the pills in one swallow and gulped the rest of the glass of water to help her burned throat. She quickly came to regret the decision though as her stomach ached from drinking it too quickly. She lay back on the bed with a groan. "I bloody hate being sick" she muttered as she slid into her cocoon of blankets again.

The doctor, always the optimist, gave her a smile. "You're tough Rose….I'm sure you just need a good night's rest and you'll be back to your old self in the morning" he said.

Rose sighed. "I sure hope you're right" she said. The illness had come on so quickly she hoped that it disappeared that quickly.

A minuet passed before the doctor said. "So….what does your mum usually do when you're sick?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"I mean, you wanted her here to be with you because you're sick….I'm the stand by for right now so what can I do?" he asked.

Rose smiled; he was actually trying to take care of her. It was cute. "It's really just that she's here with me…..like you are now. Usually she just sits with me and watches telly with me. Though she used to sing to me when I was a little kid and I was sick."

The doctor laughed. "Well, I'm _not_ going to sing, not sure you'd want me to anyway" he said. "but I suppose a little telly wouldn't hurt anything." He leaned over to the bedside table and grabbed the remote. He turned on the telly and began to flip through the channels. "What would you like to watch?"

Rose shrugged, the small motion causing a shiver of chills to go through her. "Dunno…..I'm a bit out of touch with what's on telly these days. Just pick something funny"

The doctor finally left the channel on a sitcom, putting the remote down. "We could be lying under a green sky watching the stars right now and yet we're watching telly" he said in a jesting way. "Way to go Rose" he joked.

"Believe me….I'd much rather not feel like there was a battle going on in my stomach either" Rose said. She felt dizzy and cold all she really wanted was to go to sleep. She lay against the pillow and stared mindlessly at the television for a few more moments before she tentatively scooted closer to the doctor. She laid her head on his chest, soaking up his warmth and listening to the beat of one of his hearts under her ear. She didn't know if he'd be okay with it; she was relieved when he put his arm around her and pulled the blanket up closer to her chin. "You know you're doing a horrible job of protecting me" he said with mock seriousness.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, closing her eyes. He was so soft and so pleasantly warm.

"If your mum comes in here and finds us lying like this she will kill me" he said with a laugh. Rose laughed gently too; not too hard as the motion would hurt. Everything seemed to hurt right now.

"I promise I'll take care of it you big baby" Rose joked. Rose kept her eyes closed and began to drift off to sleep. The soft sound of the telly in one ear and the sound of the doctor's beating heart in the other. Her throbbing, pained stomach maked it hard to fall under the veil of sleep despite the fatigue she felt but eventually she made it to dreamland. Just before she slipped under into complete unconsciousness, she heard the sound of a song. A man's voice singing…..the doctor? It had to be him, it sounded so much like him. But that couldn't be, right? He didn't sing, or so he said. But why wouldn't he? It was lovely….if it was real. Maybe the fever was causing her to go delirious.

The notes of the doctor's song were soft, calm, soothing; she tried to discern the words of the song but she couldn't. They weren't English but they also weren't a language that she had heard before. Even though she didn't know the words the song was completely beautiful and she made sure to stay completely still, afraid he would stop singing if he knew she was awake. That was if she wasn't imagining it….Listening to the slow, calming notes of the song, Rose slowly drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Rose awoke sometime in the night with a horrible cramping in her stomach; it was so painful that she was pulled from her deep, fever induced sleep. It was dark in the room and yet she felt the doctor still lying beside her. As her eyes adjusted to the dark she could see his outline on the bed, fast asleep.

Rose sat up in the bed, her stomach lurching and threatening to spill again. Nausea rolled in her belly making her press a hand to her mouth; she didn't want to get out of bed, didn't want to have to move. She felt the doctor roll over in his sleep beside her and she hoped that he stayed asleep and didn't soon become witness to her vomiting. Rose breathed deeply through her mouth but it was no use; she pulled herself up from the bed and ran for the bathroom, vaguely aware that the doctor was waking from the motion of her getting up so suddenly. She almost didn't make it to the toilet in time to become violently sick; her whole body shook with chills as her stomach viciously spilled its entire contents into the toilet. She remained perched over the toilet, shivering, her eyes watering, waiting for more to come up as it inevitably would.

She wasn't expecting the door to open behind her as it did. "Rose? You okay?" the doctor asked behind her. Rose shooed her hand in his direction; she hardly wanted him to see her leaning over the toilet, bile on her chin. "I'm fine…..go" she said. Her argument was nullified by the fact that her stomach rolled at the moment, causing her to spew more vile stuff into the toilet. She was mortified that he was still standing behind her, witness to the whole thing until she felt a cool hand on her neck, her hair being pulled away from her face. She should feel embarrassed that the doctor was holding her hair as she puked but at the moment she was just relieved and a little touched actually.

Eventually she felt confident that her stomach was calmed enough that she could move away from the toilet. She sat down on the bathroom floor; she looked over at the doctor somewhat sheepishly. "Sorry about that….." she said in a hoarse voice.

"You're sick Rose, you _need _a doctor. Its okay." he said. "Just let me take care of you, alright?"

Rose gave him a small nod; the doctor pressed a hand to her sweaty forehead. "You're burning up" he said before standing and going to the sink, getting a washcloth wet. He sat down on the floor with Rose, running the cool cloth along her forehead and cheeks. It made her shiver but she knew she was too hot even though she felt freezing. She simply wanted to wrap herself in the warmness of her bed and go to sleep. "I'm cold, doctor…bed" she murmured as the doctor continued to wipe her face.

"I know you feel cold, but you've got quite a fever" The doctor said. "What you really need is a bath to cool you down"

"Rose you're temperature is very high…..you need to cool down." The doctor insisted.

Rose could hear the doctor moving around the bathroom but she was too focused on lying down on the bathroom floor to look at him. She could hear the water of the tub beginning to run and though she tried to argue, she didn't make much of a sound. She was almost asleep when the doctor shook her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Rose, the water's ready….I know you don't want to, but you need to sit in it for a few minutes okay?" he said.

"I wanna sleep" Rose whined. She felt horrible; the idea of taking her clothes off and getting into cold water was almost impossible.

"I know but you have to get cooled down. I don't want to have to take you to the hospital" the doctor said before reaching under her arms and lifting her up. He pointed her towards the tub. "I'll uh….let you do the rest yourself. I'll just be outside the door, okay?"

Rose gave him a weak nod before he disappeared out of the door; she really didn't want to have to go to the hospital either, so she did as he said. She slowly took off her pyjamas, cringing as the air hit her skin and made her shiver. She gradually lowered herself into the cold water, whimpering slightly. It felt so cold and her stomach still hurt; sleep was the most important thing on her mind at the moment. She grabbed a washcloth and began to run it over her burning skin, trying to speed up the process so that she could go back to bed. After what felt like an eternity she called out, "Think I can be done now, doctor?"

"Yeah, I think you've suffered enough" the doctor called from outside the door. "Feel any cooler?"

"I….feel…..a lot cooler" Rose said through chattering teeth. She got out of the tub as fast as her weak, dizzy state would allow and dried off, glad to be able to put her pyjamas on. She slowly walked out of the bathroom, glad the doctor was waiting on her. She leaned against him and he gently steered her towards her bed. Before she could lie down he handed her a glass of water. "Go ahead and drink the whole thing, don't want you getting dehydrated. Though, go slow so you don't get sick" he prodded.

Rose drank the water slowly, the water feeling good as it slid down her throat. She gladly drained the glass and set it on the table before laying back. The doctor lay down on the bed beside her, pulling the covers up and around her. She sighed a little at the comforting warmness of the bed after the shocking coldness of the bath. The doctor tucked the covers around her; with a grin he handed her her tattered yellow blankie. Rose pulled it close to her, not even caring if she'd hear of this later, which no doubt she would. She closed her eyes, comforted by the warmness of the doctor beside her and she quickly drifted off to sleep again.


	5. Chapter 5

When Rose woke up again, there was bright light streaming into her bedroom. She squinted as she opened her eyes. Instantly she was aware that she felt better than she had yesterday; her stomach was sore but didn't feel like it was going to explode. She still felt slightly weak but she could tell that her fever had gone down. She was desperately thirsty and she thought that perhaps she might even need a bit of food though she was very reluctant to try anything yet. She glanced at her clock; it was well into the afternoon. She had slept a long time; no doubt that had contributed to her beginning of healing. She looked over in the bed beside her and was not surprised to find it unoccupied; she felt a pang of loneliness, wondering what distant planet or time he might be on by now.

Rose laid in bed for a while longer, eyes adjusting to the light and her head adjusting to being awake before she decided to get up. She sat up sluggishly before standing up, testing herself for dizziness before she began to shuffle towards the door. When she opened her door she heard some noise coming from the kitchen and she walked towards that direction. She nearly lost her careful balance when she saw the doctor in the kitchen, stirring something in a pot she took to be soup. The sight was so….domestic. She didn't know how he could stand it. " Good morning sleepyhead" he said, giving her a grin as she walked into the kitchen and sat at the table. "Or should I say good afternoon?"

Rose got up and grabbed a glass of water before sitting down at the kitchen table, drinking it slowly. Rose was surprised when the smell of the soup the doctor was making actually smelled appetizing. "Good afternoon I guess" Rose said as she sipped her water. "I thought you'd gone already"

The doctor poured the soup from the pot into a bowl and put it down on the table in front of Rose, sitting down opposite her. "Leave? Ah, I couldn't do that….not til you're all patched up, right?" he asked jokingly

"Well, I'm feeling much better" Rose said. She took a few tentative bites of the soup. "Guess that's because I had a doctor to take care of me"

Rose gave him a wide smile and the doctor smiled back. Rose ate her soup slowly as she and the doctor discussed their next possible destination. She was almost done eating when she heard the front door open. A few moments later her mother came into the room, her eyes widening when she saw Rose. "Rose, so glad to see you. It's been a while" she said enthusiastically as she gave Rose a hug. She looked over to the doctor and seemed to put the pieces together as she looked from Rose in her pyjamas and the doctor without his permanent fixture of his coat. "How long have you been here?" she asked. "All night?" she asked, giving the doctor a hard, motherly stare.

The doctor looked at Rose, waiting for her to jump in. "Mum….I've been sick" Rose said. "We were traveling and I got sick. We came back here but you weren't around so the doctor was kind enough to take care of me while I was puking my guts out" she gave her mother a smile. "So…..where've you been all night?"

Jackie gave Rose a scowl before changing the subject. "Are you feeling better now?" she asked, ignoring the question.

"Much better" Rose said. "I'm still on the mend, but the doctor here good care of me"

Jackie looked over at the doctor, giving him a small smile. "Well then I suppose I should say thank you" she said. She walked over to the doctor, giving him a light smack to the back of the head. "Thanks" she said with humorous sarcasm as the doctor gave Rose an overly pained expression. Rose just laughed; musing that it might be the best medicine there is after all.

….

A few days later, Rose walked behind the doctor into the TARDIS, glad to be back. Three days of healing and dull telly had been so boring; she was ready to see something different.

"So…..how about that picnic?" Rose asked as the doctor walked over to the consol. He looked up. "What picnic?" he asked.

Rose chuckled. "Surely you didn't forget? The one we were about to go on when we had to come back? I was promised fields of rainbow colored flowers, a green sparkling sky, and fruit on the trees as big as your head, as I recall"

The doctor smiled widely. "If that's where you want to go, then that's where we shall go" he said, hitting several buttons and levers, the TARDIS lurching as it took off into space. The doctor turned toward Rose as the TARDIS was set on course. "But you know, you forgot something, Rose" he said with a sly smile.

Rose looked at him suspiciously. "What's that?" she asked. A moment later the doctor laughed as he pulled out Rose's raggedy yellow blankie from his jacket and tossed it to her. She felt her face turning red as she grasped it in her hands; she knew this was going to come back to get her. "Thanks, doctor" she said faking gratitude. She smiled slyly at him, not one to be outdone. "Say, there's something else I have to thank you for"

Still laughing, the doctor said, "What's that?"

"Your wonderful singing voice" Rose said with a smile; her tone was joking, but she really did appreciate his singing to her in her sleep.

The doctor's face turned a rare shade of red before he recovered and waved her off. "I told you I don't sing" he said. "You had a fever…..you were obviously delirious"

They both knew he was lying; even so Rose nodded and said nonchalantly, "Oh, my mistake….must have been a dream".

"Must have" the doctor said, turning toward the console as he landed the TARDIS. He was focused on it that he didn't see Rose sneaking up behind him; he jumped slightly when she put her arms around his middle from behind.

"Just thanks for being a good doctor" she said, closing her eyes and giving him the tightest hug that she could.

**Well, that is the end of "Rose Needs a Doctor". Thanks so much to all who read and reviewed. I hope you enjoyed it :)**


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